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Letters Patent No. 61,169, dan@ January 15, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN ECOPSKIRTS.

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T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY GONCERN;

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. DE FQREST, of Birmingham, in the county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Hoop Shirts; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent in- A Iigure 1,` a side view of askirt embracing my improvement.

Figure 2, an enlarged view of a portion of the skirt; and inv Figures 3 and 4, the common construction to illustrate the advantages of my improvement.

This invention relates to an improvement in finishing the end of tho tape below the bottom hoop, to protect the attachment of the hoop to the tape. Heretofore the lower end of the tape has been covered with leather `extending` .up on both sides of the tape, as seen in iig. 3, the leather denoted in red. This leather is stitched to the tape, and is a good and durable finish, yet expensive. A cheaper method, and one much used, is shown in lig. 4, which is simply doubling the tape up around the bottom hoop and stitching together, as denoted :in the drawing. My invention, which is still cheaper and much better, as it is more durable than either of the common Wuys,consists in extending the tape below the hoop and covering the end thus extended with a metal clasp, which, hanging down below the hoop, not only protects the tape from wear, but to a great extent the hoop.

To enable others to construct my improvement, I ,will proceed to describe the same as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

A is the bottom hoop; BB the tapes of an ordinary hoop skirt. I'extend the usual tapes B .below the bottom hoop, as seen in iig. 2, and cover the end with a metal clasp, a, so that the' tape itself cannot come in contact with the loor or pavement, Aand is thus prevented from being worn away so as to open the pocket in the tape and release the hoop, and in thus directly protecting the tape; the same protection serves to a great extent to protect the bottom Ahoop from wear. I do not wish to be understood as broadly claiming protecting` the end of a fabric by metal covering so as to prevent the end from frayng out, as this is not the object of my invention.

But what I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Protecting the attachment of the lower hoop to the tapes by extending the tapes below the bottom hoop and covering this extension with metal, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specied.

THOS. B. DE FOREST.

Witnesses:

Z. SPENCER, GEO. W. HUBBELL. 

